The entire room was quiet as Brienna sat beside Cassie while some distance away, Craig and Charlie sat off together.
For the first time, Brie had seen the younger and newer addition to Raye's circle and instantaneously she became fond of the girl. She was bold and feisty, with a personality no one else in the room possessed and she liked it. Raye had also brought into focus the budding interest between the girl and her brother, which she didn't mind not a bit. What she was concerned about was what her brother had done in the past and how it now affected all of them.
Since being in the room with Craig, she hadn't spoken much besides letting him know she was already informed of what was up and was deeply perturbed.
"So you're Raye's girlfriend, huh?"
She heard the girl say and she snapped her gaze to find Charlie sitting beside her. Cassie had excused herself and had walked over to Craig who had his dark eyes to them. "Yes, "
"What's that like, is she as ruthless as everyone says she is?"
"I don't know, maybe you should ask her."
Chuckling, Charlie shook her head a little. "I have a feeling she's not that into talking and letting everyone know her business. It's good but can be a bit hard to tolerate."
"You're not the first person to say that."
Brienna said.
"Hey I heard what happened and I'm really sorry about your sister's situation last night. I know how traumatising shit like that could be, "
"Then why did you agree to be apart of this, you think this is the circus or the rodeo? People lose their lives here, "
Brianna's own response caused her to reminisce on everyone she knew who had lost their lives in this whole mess.
Giovanni, Jimmy, etc. To this day their deaths still haunted her and sometimes making it hard to cope unknown to everyone. To most, her mental state had improved and it did but ever so often something would remind her of what transpired back then and she'd feel this mental stagnancy that crippled not just her happiness for some time but her performance at work. She never allowed Raye to know because even she had her own cross to carry.
"Well, no I don't think it's either but I'm familiar with this type of life," Charlie said pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Doesn't mean you were meant for it but I get it, you love the thrill of it all, "
"I guess, " Charlie shrugged.
"Just be careful," Brie whispered and beside her, Charlie gave a little smile which she reciprocated. The room was then flooded with the blonde trying to kill the awkward tension which worked just fine. All three of the siblings listened keenly to her talk about what happened at the bar that faithful night and they couldn't help but laugh.
Charlie was very dramatic and had many expressions that she used which showed just how unique of a person she was. But listening to her talk and watching how articulate she was made a strange feeling rise to the top of Brienna's mind and she recognized the strange sensation but was pushing it back down the inside from whence it came. She just prayed that the feeling was just a feeling and nothing more.
* * *
"I need you to start speaking name's," Raye spoke to the man she recognized from the night before, though his face was badly disfigured and battered.
His eyes were barely even opened enough for him to see her figure, but she knew he saw. He was tied to a chair half-naked, having only his undergarments on while the rest of him was left exposed and bruised. Raye knew he'd endured a lot because every ounce of his flesh was covered with marks of violence, from his face, his thighs, all the way down to his feet.
"He ain't gonna speak any names boss,"
"I'm sure he will now, I'm sure he will." She whispered quietly, her blood beginning to boil as she recalled how she came about learning of his existence. The fact that he had intentions of hurting Cassie made every drop of pity she felt for him disappear. Gone with the wind.
The guy was adamant on staying silent and Raye nodded towards Cedro who threw a piece of wet cloth across his face and immediately he started groaning. She nodded again and watched as the vigorous fella slowly poured water on his face. His gargles and writhing body told her a great deal of how disturbed he was of the things being done to him but she looked on with a rather cold expression; nothing she hadn't seen before. After the entire bucket of water was poured over his face, Cedro ripped the rag away and their prisoner coughed up a mouth full of the water, spewing it unto himself.
"I'm not going to ask again,"
"You don't need to, I'll talk but please don't kill me," he responded out of breath, his face shaky and pathetic.
His dirty blonde hair was slicked back due to the water. Raye watched as he did his best to keep both his eyes opened as he fought for air. "I was only doing what I got sent to do, you both know how it goes." He panted.
Both Raye and Cedro chuckled among themselves, both shaking their heads to his chosen words, to begin with— how absurd. "Right, right, we're thugs, we know," Cedro answered sarcastically.
"Then you'll know I didn't really have much of a choice but set out to harm the girl."
"I get it but whom exactly sent you to do it. And why,"
"Your rival, your enemy. They were using him, your bitch's brother as a cover-up to get to you, make it look like your boy was the one doing wrong but actually, they set his ass up. He didn't kill Connor, he killed someone else not even connected to the fucking Irish. They just wanted a way to get to you and they've found what they wanted."
"Why not just come for me instead of doing all that nonsense?" Raye questioned, trying her best not to break her own jaw at how hard she flexed its muscles. The fact that he addressed Brienna as a bitch, a derogatory word meant he had no longer stand a chance to see daylight again.
"You know they don't play that easy. Why take out just you when it could be everyone you're affiliated with, man woman and child?"
"Hmm," she scoffed and made eye contact with Cedro. He nodded and swiftly brought his fist into the man's stomach, punching into him with such a force, he puked all over the floor and it was nothing but water. She watched the man try his best to gather his composure but to no avail—he whined like a little child.
"I still need the names of all those who were involved in this, was it, Quinn, directly or not?"
"No, but he didn't mind. He's still mad about what happened the while ago."
"I figured,"
"You got some of his best men incarcerated and killed, he'll never forget that."
"Yeah, we'll never forget him either."
The man chuckled, startling Raye enough to make her wonder what was so funny. "To think both sides do the same shit and are fighting each other is a joke only God himself could laugh at." He chuckled dryly.
"We not only fight each other but everyone else— the cops, the other gangs," she grimaced.
"All the same in God's eyes,"
Raye stepped closer and looked down into his blue eyes. They were dull and distant but she knew someone was still sitting behind them, though that person wouldn't be there for long. After she would've left the room Cedro and others lingering around would continue to beat him to a pulp, beat him until he blew his last breath in this room and then his remains would be discarded so cleanly, one would question if he ever existed at all.
That didn't bother her at all because she had been hearing and witnessing that ever since she was a little girl; it's what she knew.
"You're talking so much about God, you'd think you were a preacher before you got here, " she laughed, and Cedro did the same. Then it died as fast as it came, leaving Raye to gaze with her hazel orbs zooming in unto Reese's face, her irises darker than usual.
"But don't worry though, " she placed a hand on his shoulder and he winced.
"Since you're as excited to talk about god I hope you'll get ready to meet him soon, " she ended her statement, moving away from him.
At the door, she could hear fist connecting to flesh one more time and his haunting cries did nothing to make her change her mind about his inevitable demise. He should've known that something like this would've befallen him if attempting to harm her girl's sister wasn't successful. Even if it was successful she would've hunted him down like the rabbit he was. If not someone close to him was going to pay for his sins.
